Mindy’s Thoughts

We asked a few people to share their experiences of our most recent Think In. Have a read of what Mindy Goose made of it …

This year, Love Arts is taking a break to evaluate what
works and what doesn’t work, and to open up the forum to Arts and Minds members
to discuss what’s next!

Having attended the first Think In back in January, where we
behaved like bees and gathered information about the previous festivals and
what we think could happen next, for me, it felt like too many ideas and too
many diversions away from what the Festival had been about – whether that is a
good or bad idea, I guess is open to more debate.

And so onto Think In number two. The format for this information building
session, appeared much more structured and accessible for me. Structure does
not mean that we cannot dream big or allow for organic construction, it means
that we can make sense of those ideas and build them into the future design of
the festival. As such the tables were split into four – with hats to match:
Dreamers, Thinkers, Builders, and Creators.

What should the future be? The Dreamers had free reign to
dream big, the blue sky projects and ideas that don’t worry about money and
practicalities. The Builders looked at logistics and how we can take those
wonderful dreams and make them a reality. The Creators sat creating, the ones
who fill the walls and rooms with their artistry. I sat on the Thinkers table.

It’s what I do, think a lot. Tom, from Arts and Minds,
facilitating the group, provided us with a whole bunch of awkward questions we
need to think about, teasing out the problems, and attempting to find
solutions.

The first topic we took hold of, was the use of social media,
our online presence. The Arts and Minds team is small, and social media is a
huge undertaking, we proposed a dedicated team that could manage the publicity,
perhaps looking at marketing students from the Universities and offering them a
live brief to take the task on. We also volleyed the idea around about funding and corporate sponsorship. There
were strong ideas about having events in the lead up, Love Arts on Tour to
reach out to communities further afield than central Leeds, live streaming of performances
for those who cannot make them.

We talked about curation. We felt that the way the festival
is currently set up, as an open call with a theme to anchor the work, that
individuals can apply to and curate themselves, worked better than inviting
formality in, in the form of a curator – it could lose the individuals who may feel
intimidated by the mainstream art
scene. We suggested that support could be on offer to those who needed help
applying or needed help curating their own exhibitions.

Do we allow artists from further afield than Leeds? My
argument is that Leeds has a population of well over 750,000, there is plenty
of untapped talent out there we haven’t even discovered yet, whilst we may not
refuse an artist applying from outside Leeds, we wouldn’t make any announcement
of it. We did decide that if there was a pot of money for a commission or for
funding an artist, then it would be for a Leeds resident only.

The connection to mental health. How do we talk about it?
How do we focus on it? Whilst removing the stigma is important, there is also a
need to talk about symptoms and emotions at a more human level – not everyone
with symptoms views themselves as having a mental illness. Perhaps, “Do you
feel…. Anxious/worried/stressed?” Language is important here, and there is more
work to be done with the direction we set Love Arts on.

Accessibility. My word of the moment! As the festival was
built on mental health and wellbeing, are we doing enough to encourage and
welcome everyone in? It needs to be accessible to take part in, not a closed
shop, and not something that feels old establishment and formal. We suggested
private views that are ‘autism friendly’, quieter, less crowded, thinking about
the environment and it’s suitability. As mentioned earlier, live streaming of
performances, and better online interaction for those who are isolated for
whatever reason. There is much more to be investigated with regards to accessibility,
with a mental wellbeing focus at its heart.

Love Arts Festival audience reach. Are the same people
coming every year? Is that a bad thing? We can encourage repeat attendance,
because the festival must being something good if people keep coming back.
However, we would like to see new faces too. How do we get out further afield? Do
we do something educational? Something attention grabbing, in a busy place?
Actually going out to the communities across Leeds? ‘Love Arts on Tour’!!

Although some of what we discussed threw up even more
questions, we are beginning to drill down what it is we are hoping to achieve
in future years of the festival. And I am excited to see what happens next, as
the discussion grows.